Businesses on Thursday called for reasonable and necessary controls to ensure a balance between the economy and health amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"What is currently happening is harming businesses, our economy and endangering jobs more than any restriction," the Malta Chamber of SMEs warned in a statement. 

The authorities should enter into discussions with representatives of the private sector to devise standards that would lower risks for all planned activities.

After a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, a number of which were related to mass events, calls have been made for cancellations.

Weddings and the events sectors needed clarity and the ability to plan without the constant worry that the authorities would wait until it was too late and then try to make up for lost time by triggering an informal lockdown. 

“What happened should have been predicted and was avoidable,” it said.

It added that Malta could not exist in a bubble and it was not enough to depend on the domestic economy. It was widely accepted that, not to die an economic death, Malta would emulate other countries and learn to co-exist with COVID-19.

But business representatives had always advised for a balanced approach and advocated for good regulation rather than deregulation. 

“Time and time again we have appealed to the authorities to discuss health standards so that certain activities could resume safely. We have sent plans to the authorities and requested discussions so that when the time comes these sectors would be ready to operate whilst keeping risk levels as low as possible,” it said.